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T O P I C R E V I E W

SpaceKSC

With regards to touring the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), in addition to the bus tour offered by the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC) there is another option that few people know about.

CCAFS is technically part of Patrick Air Force Base. The Patrick Public Affairs Office runs a free bus tour on the second Wednesday of every month. The tour starts at 8:45 a.m. outside the CCAFS south gate and runs about three hours.

You need to call the public affairs office in advance to make reservations. The number is (321) 494-5945. They're not good about answering the phone or returning messages, but if you leave your name with the size of your party you should be on the list. Typically they handle about 25 people on a tour.

This tour goes to a lot more places than the "Then and Now" tour. It's the only way the public can go into the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse. You're allowed to get out and walk around Launch Complex 34. Depending on time, they'll let you out at LC-14, where the blockhouse has been restored.

There's also some talk about expanding the number of tours, but nothing is official yet.

The Air Force Space & Missile Museum, where Explorer 1 launched, recently opened a new facility called the History Center. It's outside the south gate, in the Space Florida office complex. The SpaceX Launch Control Center is across the commons. The History Center has displays for every launch complex at CCAFS. For those who can't get on base, it's an opportunity to sample some of the history.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket designated AV-040, will launch the second Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite for the U.S. Navy in July.

In August, a Delta 4 rocket will launch the fifth Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft. This geostationary communications spacecraft will serve U.S. military forces.

Robert Pearlman

Public tours of Vandenberg Air Force Base have also been suspended, which may hint at the answer:

In this time of budgetary uncertainty, the 30th Space Wing is suspending the base tour program until further notice.

kr4mula

While I can't speak for the entire DoD, the Air Force is essentially eliminating all non-core/mission critical functions as a way to save money under the sequester. Tours are among those.

For example, the National Museum of the USAF here at Wright-Patterson AFB cut all the tours to the Restoration Hangar and the Presidential/R&D Hangars. They've even closed the latter entirely to save thousands of dollars on utility bills. The public could only access those hangars by way of a government bus, so that's more moeny to be saved.

Likewise, the Air Force has pulled entirely out of air shows, even with static displays, in order to cut costs. So not a great summer to appreciate air power.

SpaceKSCBlog

Yes, the CCAFS tours are being suspended due to sequester. I heard a few weeks back it might happen.

Space Possum

This is ridiculous! The Canaveral AFB tours are run by a private company and the docents at the Redstone/Jupiter Blockhouse and Museum are unpaid volunteers, they said so when I went on the tour last year.

This is nothing more the administration punishing the public for not supporting their budget.

Robert Pearlman

And who do you think pays that private company?

This, like the suspension of other public tours at other military installations, is how the Department of Defense has chosen to implement the sequester mandated cuts across its organization (among other cancellations).

Space Possum

I assumed the company was paid from admissions and the extra fee required for the tours, I did not know the government paid them. I figured a company like that would have to pay a license fee to the government to run the tour. Still, I find it outrageous that these tours are being stopped.

Robert Pearlman

quote:Originally posted by Space Possum:I assumed the company was paid from admissions and the extra fee required for the tours...

You may be confusing tours: the Patrick Air Force Base-organized tours were free to the public, no fee collected or required.

If you paid a fee, then you may be referring to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's "Then and Now" tour, which has not been cancelled.

SpaceKSCBlog

As Robert said ... Only the free tours offered by CCAFS public affairs have been suspended. Why? Because they don't pay for themselves. It's a freebie and an easy target.

The Cape Canaveral Then and Now tour offered at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex continues. It's offered once a day at 12:50 PM. It costs $25 on top of admission.

Space Possum

Thanks for the clarification. I guess I got lucky because my tour stopped at the Lighthouse and LC-34. I guess it depends on who the tour guide is. It is WELL worth the extra money!

SpaceKSCBlog

The tour routes are determined by CCAFS. Each is slightly different due to departure points.

The KSCVC tour has been trimmed in recent years by the CCAFS management folks, who no longer allow them to go to certain places once on the tour. All sorts of speculation why.

Even so, it's still a three-hour tour; if you've watched Gilligan's Island, you know what happens on three-hour tours.